chocolate berry protein smoothie

As we all know (or I should hope anyway) part of a healthy lifestyle is incorporating exercise in to every day. It doesn't have to be much, 30 minutes of power walking, weight lifting, running, hard core dancing, etc. all can suffice. Get your blood pumping, your lungs working and your heart beating. I love getting my sweat on.

Exercise is vital for a long, healthy, happy and rich life. It helps you sleep, look good, feel good and does absolute miracles for your bod. Trust me. Try to get in 10-30 minutes of exercise per day - you won't regret it. 

Now why am I talking about getting my sweat on? Who cares? Well, I'd like to think you do. Now if you have just worked out and want some delicious, raw, whole food nourishment - try this recipe. The perfect meal to consume right after exercise is a smoothie. Preferably with fruit, dark leafy greens and some kind of protein. I love hemp seeds and several different vegan protein powders. Why? Because your body needs to replenish the calories it just lost, and also repair the muscle tissue that was damaged when you worked out. I know that sounds scary but it's all good. When you eat protein and carbs after a workout, the protein works to repair and improve your muscle - that's how you get guns! The carbs (in fruit) replenish calories lost. Your body can effortlessly take these in when in smoothie form because there's almost no digestion needed - just absorption. I give you a basic post-workout smoothie recipe below, using Vega protein powder. 

Pretty perfect, huh?

I know some raw foodists strongly believe we should not have to use protein powders because we can get all our required protein (which actually isn't that much, contrary to public belief) from entirely whole foods. I don't like to hold convictions for any case, and this one isn't special. Everyone is different - some people do fine without extra protein powder, some don't. I like to use it because it helps me build muscle faster and more efficiently. Also, I don't want to have to eat bowls and bowls of spinach and broccoli all day. 

I am NOT saying you can't get enough protein on a raw vegan diet unless you have protein powders. Definitely not. But if you work out a lot you need to repair your muscle tissue with protein, and the most efficient and convenient way to do that is with protein powder. Also, it's not like it's this terrible over-processed food. You can find loads of excellent brands out there that gently process whole foods into clean and simple powders. Of course, there are also some sketchy GMO soy isolate proteins which I do not recommend. I love Sun Warrior, an all raw powder, and Vega (also it's creator and pro athlete - Brendan Brazier. Read his book, Thrive).

chocolate berry protein smoothie: makes about 4 cups

2 cups kale

1 cup frozen blueberries or other fruit

1 banana

1 scoop chocolate vegan protein powder 

(or 2 tablespoons hemp seeds + 1 tablespoon cacao)

1-2 cups water, as needed

Blend all of the ingredients in your high speed blender (like a Vitamix) until smooth, then enjoy!

blueberry hemp smoothie

yum! here's another smoothie recipe for you, my peeps. this one is sneaky, it's not green but it has kale in it. the colour of the blueberries hides it. oooh, deceptive (yes i DO personify my smoothies). you can personify THIS:

while you're enjoying the unprecedented 90's smoothness of that little diddy ("i like the way you work it, no diggity...") you should also enjoy the raw deliciousness of this smoothie. it's got extra protein from hemp so it's excellent for right after a work out; which was my situation. you like P90X? i do. das my jam.

anyways - smoothie recipe.

blueberry hemp smoothie: serves one

1 cup frozen blueberries
2 dates
1-2 tablespoons raw hemp seeds
1 cup kale
1 banana
1-2 cups water/nut milk, or as needed
stevia, if desired

blend all of it up in your high speed blender. add enough water/nut milk to make it all smooth; but not too much because then it will taste watery (as one might guess.) drink!

okay, oh kale

i love smoothies. i love kale. from that you can deduce: i love kale IN smoothies. or maybe not, because i also love garlic and ice cream... hm.

ANYHOO - we are running dangerously low on fruits and vegetables (meaning we have like seven apples) in my house this morning so instead of using a banana i used dates, and instead of fresh kale, i used frozen. it's still from our garden though! it was especially think and cold because everything i put was frozen: blueberries, strawberries and kale. i added ice cold almond milk and it was like a berry milkshake!

not exactly what is going to warm me up on a chilly vancouver morning but i just don't care - it's too freaking yummy to worry about regulating my body temperature. i made extra, so it will be a snack later too...

nevermind. i just drank it. 

berry kale smoothie: makes 5 cups

1 cup kale
1 cup frozen blueberries
3/4 cup frozen strawberries
2 cups almond milk
2 large dates

blend it all up. chug. 
actually don't chug it, you will get a brain freeze.

holy garlic

we bought garlic from the farmer's market on saturday... it is so intense. like, the most potent garlic on the planet. i naively used an entire clove in the dressing of my salad, i have now killed all my taste buds. learn from my mistake - be cautious with your organic garlic. start with half a clove if you've got strong stuff.

besides the garlic insanity, this salad was friggin delish. i had a great workout up at my campus gym and all i wanted to eat afterward was a big salad from my garden. i added some chickpeas for extra protein. hemp seeds would also be a nice addition. we had grilled zucchini from last night and well... that's never a bad thing to throw in. enjoy! i sat in the sun and fought with wasps to eat this.

walnut garlic salad: serves one

dressing:

1 tablespoon mustard

1 tablespoon tamari

3 tablespoons almond milk (or water)

1/2 garlic clove

1 tablespoon miso 

1 tabelspoon honey/maple syrup (or 2 dates)

1 tablespoon hummus (optional... but yum)

salad:

2-3 grilled zucchini slices

1/2 cup chickpeas

4-5 cups kale and/or rainbow chard

2 figs

3 olives

make the dressing by blending all ingredients until smooth. hopefully you like it, it might be a little thick so feel free to add more liquid. chop up the salad topping and tear up the leaves into bite-size pieces. pour on the dressing and mix into the greens, then add your toppings. yummers.

garden kale salad

we have so much kale in our garden.

this is not a problem though, i could eat it all day... and i do. i use it in smoothies, wraps, kale chips, soups, and salads! mainly in smoothies though. so yesterday i figured i make it into a salad instead of the usual green smoothie. oh wait - i had a green smoothie for breakfast.

but still.

dino kale is a bit bitter and tough for regular salad greens so what you do to make it all nice, soft and flavourful is massage your dressing in and let it sit for a few minutes. i did that while i cut up my other salad ingredients. they included: THE BEST TOMATOES EVER, grown on our deck. i also added some bell pepper, beans, and gardein because well... i like the taste. my dad thought i had put real chicken in the salad for a second. hah.

garlic kale salad: serves one

salad:

1 large organic tomato

4-5 cups organic dino kale

1 organic bell pepper

1/2 cup cooked chickpeas (or throw in some nuts to keep it raw)

1 serving of tempeh or gardein (optional) 

handful of raisins

dressing:

1 tablespoon miso

1 tablespoon mustard

2 dates

handful of walnuts

3 peeled garlic cloves

1 tablespoon tamari

water, as needed 

chop the veggies and kale, set aside. to make the dressing blend all ingredients until smooth. i hope you like it! then massage the dressing into the kale and let it rest for a 5-10 minutes, getting soft. put the tomato, pepper, raisins, chickpeas/nuts and protein on top and enjoy!

YES

spa water! it's so pretty to look at, and the most refreshing thing to drink that i can imagine. here's a great article about it with delicious recipes linked at the bottom, such as "lemony lavender water". can you say YUM!? i can. yum.

in other news: MY GOJI BERRIES ARE GROWING! look at them... LOOK AT THEM.

maybe you can understand my excitement. maybe you can't. but i am thrilled, people. jumping up and down, singing to the clouds, hugging my goji bush - thrilled. this plant was not supposed to produce anything for at least one year, if it was ever to grow berries at all. but here they are in all their luscious, juicy, red beauty. our strawberries and blueberries are growing super fast too, and of course they taste A-MAZING. speaking of berries...

i think tomorrow i'll go on a fruit cleanse for a week. i've been eating really well and all lately but it's summer, fruit's in season and i may as well embrace it as much as i possibly can! besides, i feel best when i'm all fruit diet (for a certain number of days). i know as far as my digestive system goes, i'm really clean, but i wanna give my body a break from vegetables, whole grains and "processed" foods like sauces, seaweed and nut-based foods. oh, i should specify - i will still include greens.

addicted to kale for life <3

actually, scratch that. i will start on saturday. tomorrow my friend is sleeping over and we need to make a bunch of vegan delights, of the non-fruit variety. i'll keep it simple though because i don't want to eat a bunch of cooked food the day before a fruit cleanse. i think i want to make these coconut banana ice cream floats, and share a recipe for raw nutella!

stay tuned, my sweet darlings.

P.S. here's another weird song for you all to question my judgement to:

veggie wrap & miso mustard gravy

we got these radishes from the farmer's market and they were so pretty i had to take pictures; they aren't actually in today's recipe, but i bet they'd be a delicious addition!

veggie wrap with miso mustard gravy: serves one

miso mustard walnut gravy:
1/4 cup or so of walnuts
2 tablespoons mustard
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2-3 tablespoons miso
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons hemp seeds
1/2 teaspoon each of salt & pepper, other fave spices/herbs
juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons tamari
water, as needed (probably a several tablespoons)

nori veg wrap:
3-4 mushrooms
3 leaves dino kale
1/4 avocado
2-3 dates or some raisins
1/2 raw or grilled bell pepper
1 nori sheet 

to make the gravy: blend all ingredients together until smooth and like gravy dressing. if it's too thick, add more water; if it's too liquid, add more walnuts or maybe a date. whatever you think it needs.
to make the wrap: slice the veggies and what not, length-wise. then layer them all on your nori sheet and spoon on some "gravy".

*i made this again today and used cilantro instead of kale, and zucchini instead of mushrooms.
FRICKIN' AMAZING. as usual, you can basically do anything to this recipe and it'll be insane.

the pics of the food aren't that good today so i'll make up for it with these lovely photos of BLOOMING LIFE in our garden. ahhh, i adore my home.

don't ya love summer? vibrant new creatures, plants and energy growing everywhere you look. my chakras are vibrating like crazy. the prana is strong. speaking of prana, i'm going to get the sanskrit version tattooed on my wrist soon! what do you think? by the way, it symbolizes the vital life force in the universe:

प्राण

BBQ kale chips

oh my goodness gracious holy cats. the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. i have already done the hardest part. buuuut... I JUST CAN'T STOP EATING KALE CHIPS!

i could have a worse addiction though; like... almost any other substance actually. kale chips are uber healthy. you know how good kale is for you, and when you dehydrate it - you concentrate all it's incredible life-giving nutrition. just make sure to have them with a big glass of water, because obviously you're also taking out the H20 when you "DE-hydrate".

we bought beautiful kale from the farmer's market on saturday just for kale chips. ain't it perdy?
(the answer is yes.)

the sauce for these is mega good. i used liquid smoke so they taste like barbeque chips. get ready to have garlic breath too - it's totally worth it. as usual, over half of them were devoured (or should i say inhaled) by time they were actually done... like i said: i have a problem.

cheesy barbeque kale chips: makes a huge bowl, but only serves one :)

dressing:
2 cups walnuts
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons mustard
2 tablespoons agave syrup (or 1/2 cup dates)
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons tamari
2-4 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon liquid smoke
1 teaspoon each of chili flakes, paprika, salt & pepper
1/2 cup water

chips:
3 big bunches of organic, local kale!

to make the dressing, blend all the ingredients until smooth. tear up the kale leaves (leaving the stems out) and throw them all in a giant bowl with the dressing. massage in with your hands until each leaf is covered. i eat so many just like this. it's like the greatest salad ever. BUT YOU MUST RESIST. now put them on dehydrator trays and dehydrate for 1-3 hours until they're dry and crispy. you'll have to check on them. you can also use your oven at it's lowest temperature and put them on baking sheets.

i'm always listening to music when i write my posts and - as i should be - in love with whatever song from my library is playing. which is why i HAVE to share it with you. hence, my links to songs lately. i think i'm gonna make that a habit. here's some police and modeselektor.

green day

don't have too much to say today... except that i'm seriously excited about the hastiness with which my gojis are growing. the plant wasn't supposed to produce anything for at least a year - and yet look at those lovely little berries! hopefully the weather will stay hot enough, LONG enough this year for them to ripen; so i can eventually devour them like the mad beast i proudly am.

in other news: i made a delicious green smoothie today (of course, they're amazingly out-of-this-world luscious every day). i thought i'd share the recipe with you. STAY SEXY, PEOPLE!

green life magic smoothie: serves one

2-3 cups dinosaur kale

1 mango

1 banana

1 handful frozen strawberries

1/2 cup non-dairy milk

1/2 to 1 cup water, as needed

blend all the ingredients together until smooth, you can add stevia or protein powder if you like. 

then soak it up in the sun with the bees.

10 day juice fast: day 5

so far i'm feeling alright today. i slept for like 12 hours last night without waking up... i arose at 2 PM and couldn't believe the time. i'm house and dog sitting for friends this week, beginning today, so i promptly ran over there and walked the puppies.

actually, i should say ran.

i started feeling pretty light-headed and knew i needed to make some juice fast. it was made of:

2 slices pinapple
chunk of ginger
4 carrots
1 apple
1 orange
1 grapefruit
huge handful of kale
handful of strawberries
1 kiwi

yummmmm. i needed sugar. 

then i did some stuff on the computer and off i went to get groceries. i ran out of cucumber, bell peppers, tomatoes and celery the second day of the juice fast, so it was nice to finally buy some. i think i'll make some more juice soon because i'm feeling pretty tired. i walked to the grocery store as well. i probably just haven't gotten enough calories today.

*passing of time* i just had my juice for dinner and i still feel pretty tired. i thought maybe it was just because my blood sugar was low or something but i didn't even want to drink or eat anything. i left most of juice in the fridge. maybe i'll drink it later. i think i'm gonna watch some movies tonight then go to bed early. maybe this is finally some signs of detox?

anyway - my second juice was:

1 cup of strawberries
1 kiwi
3 sticks celery
1 grapefruit
1 orange
1/2 field cucumber
1 tomato
chunk ginger
1 apple

here's a good post about the benefits of juice fasting that i think is fairly accurate, intuitive and thorough.

and this is a PDF file that i also think is informative, about the same topic.

finally this is a review-type post about a new raw food book called "raw and beyond" by Victoria Boutenko, Elaina Love, and Chad Sarno (all well known and respected raw food proponents). the thing that is different about this book is that it talks about why an 80% raw diet is ideal, instead of a 100% raw food diet. the authors all used to praise and follow a totally raw diet, but now they have come to have a new opinion. i might have to agree.

when you first go raw, you feel amazing and might never want to eat cooked food again. you begin to strive to reach and keep that 100%. but as many of us have learned - 100% might not be best. i suggest reading the book to learn more. i'm going to as soon as it hits my library. having said all that - a mainly raw diet, with some lightly cooked whole plant foods is pretty much fool-proof for everyone.

10 day juice fast: day 2

 TODAY I FEEL AMAZING!

i'm waiting for the crappy feelings of detox to set in, i guess that'll be tomorrow...? but these first two days have been fantastic. today is even better than yesterday! i feel like i'm on the best psychedelic drugs. i had the trippiest dreams last night as well. 

it's been sunny both days, and i wake up to the sun beams breaking through my window and falling on me and my cat (who likes to snuggle up right on my face). today i woke up pretty hungry, so i prepared my veggies and fruit for juicing, took a shower, juiced them, then went right outside to dry off in the sunshine and enjoy my elixir. it was made of:

2 carrots
2 sticks celery
1/2 cucumber
1 orange
1 apple
2 tomatoes
chunk of ginger
huge handful kale
1 bell pepper

if that glass of juice isn't beautiful - i don't know what is. look at my kale!!! finally it has grown. dinosaur kale might be my favourite food. seriously. check out how amazing it is.

know what else is amazing? bobby mcferrin's self titled album from 1982. 

as far as my body goes - like i said, i feel great. i have been quite warm today though. a lot of perspiration. i'm making sure to drink tons of water and get plenty of sleep. i'm also spending time outdoors and walking around. in the next few days i'll be getting into meditating, painting and reading. can't wait!

the contrast of bright colours in my juice matched my dress :) i did some dishes, then went to tutor a student. i walked all the way home like i usually do and felt totally fine, it's about 5 kilometers. in fact, i have more energy today than normal.

i made my second juice for dinner around 6 PM. it was made of:

1/2 cucumber
huge handful kale
1 orange
1 apple
1 tomato
1 bell pepper
3 carrots
4 sticks celery
chunk of ginger
& love!

at this point i'm loving every moment of this fast and am really excited for the next eight days. we'll see if that opinion changes... i'm also keeping in mind that after this i am going to be doing my 21 water fast. so if i ever feel deprived with just the juice (hasn't happened so far though) i'll just remember that in a week i won't be able to have anything! so it makes juice fasting seem like a piece of cake. raw vegan cake.

day dreams,flowers & bees

Today was lovely, and it's not over yet.

I woke up, went to class, and when I returned home I had a quick workout. Then I noticed the sun was shining brightly outside so I decided I'd spend the afternoon in our yard. I put lemon juice in my hair - it makes it lighter - and with green smoothie (and glass straw!) in hand, I went out.

There's something very special and wonderful about eating raw plants in nature; because nature IS raw plants! This is why I love drinking green smoothies outside. You feel extraordinarily connected to the planet and all it includes. As I walked around in the sun rays, sipping my elixir, I noticed the first signs of spring.

Tiny flowers and leaves were bright and blooming everywhere you looked. 

Even in winter, you still see the smallest signs of life and determination. The thought went through my head many times that nothing is ever totally dead. There isn't such a thing as absolute death. 

Life is infinite. 

Everything is just recycled again and again, becoming something new each time, but never completely ending. Because how could you judge when something ends? It doesn't disappear. It's cells are simply re-arranged. Quite a lovely fact about this world we get to participate in. 

Our kale never stopped growing once all year. It defied the temperatures, storms and wind. What a champ. Guess what's in my smoothie today. Kale. 

I noticed the bees busily getting pollen from all the flowers, like a group of relentless workers. I laid down beside them to watch them go about their day's labour. I must have laid there listening to my music and watching them, fascinated, for over an hour. The sun continued to shine.

Then I noticed that apparently my smoothie wasn't finished! The last of it was being devoured by several hungry creatures behind me. I felt great that we could share our food, and not worry about anything but staying warm and getting enough nutrients together. 

Everybody gets some love.

Whadda cutie.

I then proceeded to dance around like a wood elf for another hour or so. When you get a sunny and WARM day here, you don't waste it inside if you have a choice. At least I don't. Finally I went back inside and had a lovely bath, washing the lemon, leaves, moss and twigs out of my hair. I think I brought half the nature in our yard back inside with me. 

Now I'm writing this, and soon my friends will be here. We're gonna relax and light incense in the Zen Den tonight. Looking forward to it. That's all for now! Tomorrow I'll share ANOTHER killer cupcake recipe and one for zucchini pasta. Nom.

Namaste, my friends - Have a beautiful day!